The Mayflower wasn’t a fancy passenger ship. It was a hard-working English merchant ship that had spent years hauling barrels of wine and cloth between England and France. Around 1620, a group of English religious separatists chartered it for a one-way trip to North America. The little ship - only around 80 to 110 feet long - set sail in September with 102 passengers and about 30 crew.
The voyage was rough. Storms cracked one of the main beams supporting the deck. Without it, the ship could have sunk. The Pilgrims happened to bring along a large iron screw - possibly part of a printing press - which they used to brace the beam and keep going. Most of them spent the entire 66-day crossing crammed below in the cargo hold, where it was dark, smelly, and cold.
The Mayflower arrived in November 1620 near present-day Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Half the passengers died that first winter from disease and the harsh climate. The ship itself sailed back to England the next spring and eventually broke up and was scrapped a few years later. Its name lives on as one of the most famous ships in American history.
